Annunciator.



No. 795,473. PATBNTED JULY '25, 1905;

S. B. BANKSON. ANNUNOIATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 26, 1904.

If! FT'I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANNUNCIATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25, 1905.

Application filed July 26, 1904. Serial No. 218,297.

Tr) all 1071 0772 it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Snvmnu B. BANKSON, a citizen of Sweden, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Annunciators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in annunciators for hotels and the like, the object of my invention being to provide an annunciator with which it can be readily noted upon sending a call to any room of the hotel whether or not the bell has actually rung in said room.

In large hotels it is impossible to hear from the hotel-ofiice the ringing of the bell in a distant room. Should the annunciator system or the bell of any particular room be out of order when it is attempted to call the guest in that room, the result would be that, no response being received, the hotel clerk would suppose that the guest was not in his room, while in reality he might be in the room all the time, but the bell failed to ring. The non-delivery of the message would in many cases lead to serious inconvenience and loss.

The object of my invention is to render it possible for the hotel clerk sending a call to a distant room to determine with certainty whether or not the bell in the room actually rings, so that he can know for certain whether the person was in the room or not when he rang him up.

My invention therefore resides in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts for the above ends hereinafter fully specified, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of my invention as applied to one kind of annunciator. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same as applied to an other kind.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings I have shown my invention as applied to what is known as the Partrick-CarterJVilkins annunciator system. In this system two general batterywires 1 2 are used leading from the batteries 34. Individual wires 5 6 lead from the wires 1 2 to the several bells 7 in the rooms, and there is also one wire 8 from each room to the corresponding drop on the annunciator 9. Two three-way pushes are also necessary for each station, one, 10, at the annunciator and the other, 11, in each room. In the circuit through the wire 1, which is completed by the operation of any push at the annunciator, is interposed my device for ascertaining whether the call-bell in the room rings when the circuit is completed. This comprises two devices in oneone a telephonic device and the other a bell-either of which may be used, as desired. The bell (shown at 12) is operated by electromagnets 13 in a circuit 14 between the battery and the push-button at the annunciator, which circuit is closed when it is desired to use the hell by means of a switch 15. The bell 12 may also be used as a buzzer by screwing up the screws 16, so that the ham mer 17 is moved up close to the gong. The telephonic device 18 is also in a branch circuit 19 between the battery and the pushbutton at the annunciator closed by a switch 20. A special telephone-winding, however, is used for the telephone 18, since the ordinary winding would throw so great resistance into the circuit that the bell in the distant room would not ring. The telephone 18 is therefore wound with a coarse wire. A condenser 22 takes up the back-kick or selfinduced current in the wiring and coils at each impulse.

In Fig. 2 my invention is shown as applied to an ordinary annunciator system adapted for the use of telephones, in which each station can communicate by telephone with the oiiice only. In this modification 9 is the annunciator receiving the signals from the diiferent stations. 21 represents the distant telephones;.

30, the central telephone. 7 represents the distant bells connected by branches 5 with the wire 1. 23 represents wires from the pushbuttons 11 to the annunciator. 2 1 represents wires from the telephones to the sockets 25. 26 is a jack to be inserted in said sockets. 27 is a push-putton closing the central primary telephone-circuit. By plugging in with the jack 26 at the proper one of the series of sockets 25 and pressing the button 27 any station may be called. WVhen the button 27 is released, the line is ready for talking if the receivers 21 30 are removed'from their hooks. One common talking-battery 28 is used, and another battery 29 is used for receiving the signals. The same device is interposed in the talking-circuit as in the first modification, and upon ringing up any station the ringing will be heard in the telephone, or the buzzer will respond, whichever form of repeater may be preferred.

It will be seen that upon sending a call from the oflice to any room in the hotel, then, if

the bell rings, the series of impulses sent through the bell, passing through the winding of the telephone device 18,\vill cause a corresponding series of impulses therein and will cause a corresponding ringing noise to be heard in the telephone. The sound of the bell in the distant room will be reproduced in the receiver, not, indeed, as a bell-sound, but as that of a buzzer, being produced by variations of the strength of the current sent to the receiver, and while comparatively faint will be quite loud enough to be heard by the office clerk listening for it when he presses the pushbutton to ring the distant bell. If he does not hear the bell ringing in the receiver, he will know that the bell has not rung in the distant room and that the system, so far as that room is concerned, is out of order. If the bell or buzzer device is used, this also will be heard when the distant bell rings.

I claim- An annunciator system having a series of audible signaling devices at the respective distant stations, corresponding series of annunciator-drops and of contact-making devices at the central station, independent lines from the annunciator-drops to the distant stations and switches therein at the respective distant stations, independent lines from the respective contact-making devices to the audible signaling devices at the distant stations, a common return-line from the audible signaling devices to the contact-making devices,a battery therein, and means, at the central station in said common return-line, for producing a pulsatory signal thereat by means of the impulses through the signaling device at any distant station, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

S. B. BANKSON.

WVitnesses:

FRANCIS M. WVRIGHT, BESSIE GORFINKEL. 

